The exhibition demonstrates Solomon Bard’s extraordinary life journey from a refugee to doctor and cultural leader. Dr Solomon Matthew Bard (1916-2014) was born on 26 June 1916 in Chita, Eastern Siberia, and passed away on 8 November 2014 in Sydney, Australia. His autobiography Light and Shade (Hong Kong University Press, 2009) is subtitled Sketches from an Uncommon Life, a description fully justified by the experiences, the achievements and the extraordinary range of activities in the long and eventful life of this truly uncommon man.
His many and varied interests from music to medicine to archaeology and his contributions to the cultural life of Hong Kong. He was schooled in Harbin and studied medicine at the University of Hong Kong where he graduated with the degrees of MBBS in 1939 and was awarded the Anderson Gold Medal. He served in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force and became, a prisoner of war when Hong Kong fell in 1941.
After the war and a few years in the UK, he came back to Hong Kong. He founded the medical service at the University, and also created and led orchestras for both Western and Chinese music. While music continued to be an outlet for his remarkable energies, another activity—archaeology—came to the fore.
He retired from the University of Hong Kong on June 30, 1976, after serving as Director of the University Health Service for twenty and a half years. Afterwards,he accepted the full-time post of Executive Secretary (Antiquities and Monuments) of the Government Urban Services Department. As an accomplished violinist, he was for many years leader of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and was also Chairman (then Vice-Chairman) of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which he helped to establish years earlier.
PROGRAMME
Speaker: Monica Bard, daughter of Soloman Bard
Admission: $100 for members, $150 for guests /non-members
Please email <membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk> and provide your membership number, if applicable, at the time of registration. Please kindly complete your registration by advance payment via Stripe's payment links below (using your Credit Card):
Members ($100):
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Details about the other payment option will be sent on registration. Upon receipt of payment, your registration will be confirmed by email. Registration will be closed at 12 noon on 13 December 2024.